Too Close for Comfort
by Zana Zira
Summary: Vincent has never been a fan of the Fourth of July; Chaos is absolutely nuts about it. But when Chaos decides to go flying through the fire-filled skies, even the Harbinger of Destruction may have bitten off a little more than he can chew. This ficlet is part of the Cold Shoulder Series and set 4 1/2 months after Valentine Times Two. Happy 4th, everyone!


**Author's Note: Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I just came up with this idea while watching a fireworks show about an hour ago. There were tons of bats flying around there, and they all seemed to be confused by all the loud noises coming from all directions. I got to thinking about how Chaos is a bat of sorts and might have trouble flying around fireworks and... ****_this_**** happened. Enjoy this random ****Cold Shoulder**** Series plotbunny!**

**Also, I know the characters of FFVII probably wouldn't celebrate July 4th for the same reasons Americans do. I'm just pretending it's the day that Edge just so happened to choose for the annual fireworks, not Independence Day. Okay? Okay. ;)**

* * *

"_Valentine, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up,_" Chaos scolded from inside Vincent's mind. The gunman rolled his ruby-colored eyes, not bothering to respond to Chaos at all. Vincent was perfectly aware of what time it was – and what day, unfortunately. It was the Fourth of July, and everyone from AVALANCHE and the Turks were planning to gather at Seventh Heaven to watch the annual City of Edge Fireworks Display. Chaos had been anxious for this gathering all day, as had nearly everyone but Vincent himself.

It wasn't that the gunman disliked everyone's company; far from it. He valued his friends – Yuffie, now his wife of almost two months, especially – but he _did not_ enjoy the Fourth of July. There were people out at all hours of the night, shooting off obnoxiously loud fireworks that kept him up long after everyone else was asleep due to his enhanced hearing. The streets were more crowded than usual, there was always the potential of having his cloak lit on fire by a wayward sparkler, and worst of all: Chaos never shut _up_ about it! The demon _loved_ the holiday for some reason. The only halfway decent explanation Vincent had ever come up with was that something about the bright fire and explosions was extremely pleasing to a demon meant to be the harbinger of destruction. Regardless of the reason, the gunman had learned to hate this holiday over the last three and a half decades.

"_Valentiiiinneee…_" Chaos whined – yes, _whined_ – when Vincent failed to respond to his earlier statement. Vincent sighed, running a hand back through his hair and glaring inwardly as fiercely as he could.

"_What?_"

"_Let's get going! It's almost dark now, it's going to start any minute!_"

"_I know. I was thinking if I took a sleeping pill _now_, it might have time to kick in before it gets too loud._"

"_Oh-hoh-hoh, no! You are _not_ putting us to sleep through all the fireworks. I only get to see this once a year, and you are not ruining it for me!_"

"_It's my body; I'll do as I like._"

"_Oh, yeah?_"

Vincent suddenly shuddered, his body having almost forgotten the feeling of Chaos taking over by force. He dropped to his knees, holding his head in his hands and trying to fight the transformation with everything he had. But it was no use; it had been far too long since he had had to fight Chaos for control, and he had gotten out of practice. Within moments, the demon had gained control of Vincent's body, leaving him mostly human except for the enormous pair of bat wings on his back and the yellow eyes that glowed menacingly against his pale skin.

"_Chaos, please,_" Vincent pleaded, hearing the fireworks starting outside while Chaos opened the apartment window and flexed his wings. "_This is too dangerous to fly in if you're going to be using my body. What if we get hit by something?_"

"_Oh, hush. We'll be fine._" With a great flap of the leathery wings, Chaos was airborne, leaving a very worried Vincent to grumble quietly in the back of his mind the whole way.

* * *

"So do you think Vincent's coming, Yuffie?" Cloud asked from his seat on the porch outside the bar. Denzel was seated beside him, watching the sky happily while the first of the fireworks began. A loud boom followed, muting Yuffie's answer so that she had to repeat herself.

"I don't know, really," she said, tilting her head to one side and watching the fireworks happily. "He doesn't really like all this noise and light when there are so many people around, so I told him if he didn't want to come it was okay." Tifa smiled to herself, happy to see Yuffie being so understanding of Vincent's reserved qualities. For having been a teenage girl who used to get angry every time the gunman didn't answer a question of hers, Yuffie really had come a long way.

"Well hell, if he wants ta stay home, let him!" Cid said in what might have been irritation. "Don't need him bringin' down the mood if he doesn't wanna be here!" He lifted Rozalynne to sit up on his shoulders so she could see better, and her eyes lit up in wonder while she stared at the dazzling colored lights. Shera smiled and shook her head, leaning against him and slipping an arm around his shoulders.

"Whatever you say, Honey."

"Damn right, whatever I say!"

After that brief exchange, everyone fell silent, content to watch the fireworks lighting up the entire skyline of the city. Their view from the bar was particularly nice, since the shooting-off point was not too far from where they lived. There were no stars visible in the sky tonight; instead, they had been replaced with trails of golden sparks, smoke, and colored flames that danced above their heads in shapes and patterns that disappeared almost as fast as they had come. It was truly a breathtaking sight.

But all too soon, as is always the case with fireworks displays, it was time for the beauty to draw to a close. With a grand finale that could be felt as well as seen and heard, the skies were lit up in multicolored fire, booming like the strongest thunderstorm on the Planet until suddenly, it was silent. One last explosion lit up the darkness – a golden-colored firework that left trails of sparks behind in a form like a weeping willow's branches – and with those golden trails fell a strangely bright ball of purple, plummeting toward the ground near them and never seeming to burn out like the others.

"Is that…?" Tifa began, narrowing her eyes to get a better look.

"Nah, couldn't be," said Barret.

Everyone stood immediately, watching the ball of light come plummeting to the ground with a loud "boom" and leaving a large crater in the street where it fell. Yuffie ran to the crater immediately, her eyes full of fear while she crouched down and touched the – person's? – shoulder.

"V… Vinnie?"

Vincent groaned, his face still lying on the asphalt, and flapped Chaos's wings uselessly. There were a few smoldering spots on his cloak, glowing orange in the darkness until they fizzled out, and his hair was singed and burned short in a couple of places.

"I… Made it…" he whispered tiredly. Yuffie helped him up immediately, dusting him off and holding him steady while he swayed dizzily.

"What happened, Vinnie?! Are you okay?!"

Vincent coughed softly, a smoke ring coming out of his mouth, and looked at her with tired, gray-ringed eyes.

"Suffice it to say, I think I'll be observing the fireworks from the _ground_ next year."


End file.
